WIKIBRANDS

November 1, 2010
Moffitt, president of a communications company, and Dover, founding principal partner of New Paradigm, an IT strategy think tank, point to wiki brands—organizations, products, and services that maximize social collaboration to drive business value—as a catalyst for a major shift in brand management. Highlighting such companies as Dell; Threadless, a community-based apparel design company; and MOO, a London-based online stationary company, Moffitt and Dover show how active customer participation can get brands noticed and endorsed through the customer grapevine. They provide an excellent exploration of brand communities, what they are, and how to develop them from conception to the management stage. Of particular value to organizations are key metrics and measurement tools that will help determine if efforts are working. A handy reference guide provides succinct summations of key ideas and important questions to consider before developing wiki communities. While capitalizing on social media and customer involvement is not a new idea, there is much specific advice that companies making new forays into this arena will find useful.

December 1, 2010
Executives Moffitt and Dover set out to show businesses how to use the power of customer collaboration to drive their brands forward and enhance business value with customers. With the web revolutionizing marketing, changes in brand management should coincide with the big shifts in media, communication, and marketplace conditions. Branding is no longer a simple promise, word, or image; it is now a reaction to the new scarcity in consumer attention, time, and trust, and the winners will adapt early to this new playing field. Consumers want better, faster and cheaper products made exactly the way they like them. The authors recommend engaging the customers, and co-innovating with them, and through active participation, businesses will capture customers loyalty through the power of relationships. There is a wealth of important information in this broad-based report on the new customer-controlled marketplace; it is an excellent wake-up call, a strategic guide, and an execution road map for business leaders.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)